'I take this to heart': Decline in trust of Canberra's health bosses

Staff at North Canberra Hospital, formerly Calvary Public Hospital Bruce, expressed even lower levels of trust with only one-quarter of staff expressing high trust in executives.

The results were outlined in a Canberra Health Services staff culture survey with the organisation's boss saying it was disappointing to see the results but has promised change from the leadership team.

"I take this to heart and it's a reflection of me and my team and our performance," Canberra Health Services chief executive Dave Peffer said.

"There is a growing sense of disconnect between the decision makers sitting in offices and those who are out on the floor providing care and that's something we're going to have to reconcile throughout the year. I'm committed to doing that and turning it around.

"This sort of invisibility of executives in the organisation is something that we are going to have to stop."

While trust in executives has gone backwards there has been a rise in the number of staff who trust frontline supervisors and team leaders, with 65 per cent saying they trusted them.

The results also show staff feel there is less bullying, harassment and favouritism than in previous years.

Sixty per cent of staff also agreed with the statement that Canberra Health Services is a "great place to work".

"It's great when you hear results like that and you hear from teams there has been a shift," Mr Peffer said.

Mr Peffer said the results of the staff culture survey also showed the organisation had performed better than other similar health systems and this was the first time in 18 years this had occurred.

"Over the last three years you see, on average, health services have been moving backwards in terms of their culture but we've managed to essentially hold our ground," he said.

Canberra's public health system has been plagued with cultural issues over recent years and a landmark review, conducted in 2019, found troubling levels of mistrust and bullying.

The organisation holds regular culture surveys but only 23 per cent of staff felt action was taken as a result of the last survey.

Some divisions went backwards at a much faster rate than the rest of the organisation.

Pathology experienced a more than 10 per cent drop year-on-year in its staff trusting the executive, with only 31 per cent agreeing there was high trust in the bosses. The division also experienced a 13 per cent drop in the number of staff feeling optimistic about the organisation's future, with only 45 per cent expressing optimism.

The services' quality, safety and improvement division had a 27 per cent drop in trust in the executive down to 32 per cent.

Trust in executives was also low and had dropped in the division of medicine (23 per cent), medical officers (21 per cent) and women, youth and children (23 per cent).

Mr Peffer said executives would work harder at understanding and improving systems and processes, alongside physical barriers which made it slower and more difficult for people to do their jobs.

"I think from a workforce perspective, our workforce expects executives to be understanding those pressures and pain points and then working really hard to resolve that," he said.

An increasing number of staff have also expressed dissatisfaction with their level of pay, with a 5.8 per cent decline, to 45 per cent, in the number of staff who believe Canberra Health Services provides "a fair day's pay for a fair day's work".

"This is a common story for health care providers right across the country and I think it probably reflects broader economic circumstances," Mr Peffer said.

Only 36 per cent of staff believe "things are getting better all the time".

The survey was held in November 2023 and more than 5000 staff participated with a response rate of 53 per cent.

Staff at North Canberra Hospital were included in the survey results for the first time since the hospital was taken over by the ACT government. Results showed only 25 per cent of staff surveyed had trust in the executive management team.

Only 36 per cent felt optimistic about Canberra Health Services' future and only 29 per cent felt "things are getting better all the time".

Opposition health spokeswoman Leanne Castley said the results showed there was no fundamental improvement in workplace culture. She also took aim at the government by saying they were "more concerned about manufacturing positive results".

"Canberra Health Services staff deserve to have their concerns taken seriously by the government rather than subject to a box ticking exercise where no meaningful action is taken," she said.

"If staff feedback is not properly utilised by this government then the ACT will fail to retain our valuable frontline workers.

"This is another failed opportunity from the ACT government to show disenfranchised staff that they are genuinely trying to improve the culture and retain staff, instead it is another failure from the Health Minister and ACT government."